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Redemption (band)
Redemption 'are a British-American rock band formed in London, England in 1992 by Marcus Lundgren. The band started out as a one-man band by Lundgren, but became a full band after the release of their second album ''R2 in 1996. The band is known for their hard rock-influenced sound blending with pop, alternative rock, alternative metal, new wave, post-grunge, punk revival, jazz rock, soft rock, blues rock, post-punk, country, glam metal and most recently, garage rock. Lundgren has said in a 2013 interview that he named the band after his favourite book The Shawshank Redemption ''by Stephen King. Biography 1992-1994: Origins In mid 1992, then 13 year old Londoner Marcus Lundgren began to listen to alternative rock after listening to Nirvana's ''Nevermind. After listening to several alternative rock songs, he began an idea to form an alternative rock band. During this time, he began writing songs and recorded a demo tape in 1993. After recieved a phone call from Apparel Records, Lundgren was officially signed by the label during June 1993. Because of his age, the label was unsure to promote his music, so instead after realising that Nine Inch Nails is a one-man project of Trent Reznor, Lundgren changed his solo project to a one-man project. Now officially changing the project, Lundgren officially called his band Redemption, after The Shawshank Redemption ''by Stephen King. 1996-2000: ''R2 ''and commercial breakthrough After the success of the debut album, Lundgren moved from London to Los Angeles in early 1996 to begin working on what would later become ''R2. During this time, he began to listen music by The Cure, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and George Michael to incorporate into the new album. While demoing songs, Lundgren began to feel upset when he burst into tears after recieving a phone call from his parents that his older brother Martin had died of a heart attack. With this, the style had become darker and edgier as he soon wrote songs such as "The Death of Dahlia", a gothic rock ballad about a man losing his lover to death, "64", a dream pop song about his brother and "Discotech", a disco-hip house song poking fun of people that were copying his style. Recording of the album was completed on June 1996, with the first single "Groove" releasing on September of the same year. "Groove" became Redemption's first Top 20 hit at the Apparel TV chart, charting at number 15. Soon after the release of "Groove", Lundgren decided that from his third album onwards, Redemption would not longer record as a one-man band, but as a full band. R2 ''became Redemption's most successful album and received critical acclaim, with critics praising its darker and edgier sound. Not only all of the ten singles released from the album were Top 20 successes, the videos had heavy rotation from Apparel TV (now The Music Channel). 2013-present: ''Thunder ''and change of style After the end of the Ocean Seven tour in January 2013, the band resumed recording their eighth album and completed it on May 4, which concidentally by most Star Wars fans as Star Wars Day. The band officially announced on The Music Channel in a interview on May 24, that their album will discard their usual hard rock sound to more contemporary post-grunge sound. When explained if the album would their heaviest, Lundgren said: "No, the album is going to be more pop rock, more post-grunge, less alt-metal, less punk.". The band officially confirmed on June 1 that their eighth album will be called ''Thunder and that the lead single "Sagrada Familia" would come out on July 12, with the album coming out on October 3, which was Lundgren's 35th birthday. To increase more hype, the next three singles "Thunder", "Terrible Lies" and "Echo" were released prior to the album's release, with the latter releasing two days before the release. Thunder ''was released on October 3, 2013 to mostly positive reviews from critics and fans. In a interview for The Music Channel on November 11, 2013, Lundgren has said that the band will be taking a break from performing and has said that they're planning to release ''Another Decade of Hits: 2004-2014, which will be out during 2014. Musical style and influences Lundgren has labeled his band in a 2000 interview as an "hard rock-meets-pop-meets-grunge" band. Redemption are fans of the Nickelodeon TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender ''and has cited the series as an influence when they recorded a concept album loosely based on it, titled ''Ashes to Dashes. Though their main genres are hard rock, pop rock, alternative rock and post-grunge, the band has been labeled as alternative metal, new wave, trip hop, punk revival, jazz rock, soft rock, blues rock, post-punk, country, glam metal, garage rock, psychedelic rock, bossa nova and power pop. The band has cited The Limits, Lantern, Gearshift, Shadow Clock, Vox, Expressway, U2, The Beatles, Nirvana, Deftones, Radiohead, Coldplay, Green Day, Manic Street Preachers, George Michael, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Texas, Bon Jovi, Nine Inch Nails, The Cure and The Smashing Pumpkins as influences. In recent times, they have cited No Doubt, Garbage, Skunk Anansie, Guano Apes, Evanescence and Paramore as influences'' ''and in 2013, rhythm guitarist Walter Albert has cited X Japan as an influence on his work with the band. The band's self-titled debut album had an alternative rock and pop rock sound with elements of synthpop and progressive rock. Some songs by the band openly criticise bands and artists that Lundgren dislike such as Marilyn Manson ("Blame It on Manson"), Amanda Palmer ("You Should Shut Up"), The Bloodhound Gang ("Too Controversial") and Lady Gaga ("Trying Hard"). Also several songs by the band are against controversial issues such as racism, homophobia, rape and death penalty. Lundgren has said that he disapproves the "nu metal" term to his band's music. He said in a 2012 interview on The Music Channel: Why do people call Redemption nu metal? My band is never nu metal, honestly I disapprove the term "nu metal" on our music. Sure Deftones were nu metal in their early years, but they've been more alternative metal in their later work and like us, they disapprove "nu metal" in their music as well. I don't give a darn about nu metal nor any heavier type of metal. We'll never do nu metal, death metal, doom metal, thrash metal, groove metal, power metal, progressive metal, industrial metal, gothic metal, emo metal or any type of extreme metal because we will always stay on the mainstream side of music. The only metal genres we will play are alternative metal and pop metal. Also I don't consider grunge, post-grunge and stoner rock as metal subgenres. Though stoner rock has some doom metal, doesn't mean it is a metal subgenre. Here's four words: Who cares about dubstep? In June 2013, Lundgren has said that the band do have a gothic rock/emotional hardcore influence and although he appreciates the genres, he doesn't consider the band as such because his band doesn't wear any darkish clothes. Members '''Current line-up *Marcus Lundgren - lead vocals, guitar (1992-present), drums, percussion, keyboards, rhythm guitar, bass (1992-1996; studio) *Walter Albert - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1996-present, touring member: 1994-1996) *Daniel Walsh - bass, backing vocals (1996-present, touring member: 1994-1996) *Rachel Clarke - keyboards, backing vocals (1996-present, touring member: 1994-1996) *Sheldon Laing - drums, percussion (1996-present, touring member: 1994-1996) *Percy Lundgren - saxophones, keytar (2010-present, touring member: 2006-2010) Discography *''Redemption'' (October 1994) *''R2'' (1996) *''The Third Coming'' (2000) *''Phantom'' (2002) *''Still Swinging'' (2007) *''Ashes to Dashes'' (2009) *''Ocean Seven'' (2011) *''Thunder'' (2013)